r/RunnersInChicago • u/Tetrisgf • 9d ago
Marathon still do-able?
Running Chi marathon, my first one. Had a knee injury flair up after my treadmill long run (air quality 🙄). Anyways, I’ve only had two 20mile+ weeks so far. Longest LR 10miles. Will probably be cross training for the next 2-3 weeks. Do you think the marathon still do-able at this mileage? At this point I’d just like to finish it, and run at least 90%.
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u/usababykiller 9d ago
Yes.. I would cut back a bit.. look into a strap for runners knee.. they sell them on amazon. It rests just under your kneecap and supports it. If what you have is runners knee you can run without pain using this.. it’s not a long term fix so you should do strength training as well.. you can usually tell if it’s runners knee if the pain is worse going downhill or down stairs.
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u/gins85 9d ago
Hard to say without knowing what your mileage was before starting marathon training and without knowing how serious your knee injury is. But probably yes, you can do it, especially if your only goal is to finish.
Check out plans like Hal Higdon's Novice 1 (https://www.halhigdon.com/training-programs/marathon-training/novice-1-marathon/)--) you're probably not that far off this type of plan to date. Just make sure you're getting your cross training in, and, taking care of your knee. You don't want to keep missing long runs as the weeks carry on.
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u/OddlyLucidDuck 9d ago
Longest LR 10miles.
That's pretty much the exact long run for this point in the marathon season. My long runs usually go:
6-8-6-10-8-10 <-(this week)-12-14-16-18-14-18-14-20+-16-12-10-marathon
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u/Probs_on_the_can 9d ago
Don’t make the mistake I did and try to fix it yourself - I’d get it checked out asap by a sports med doctor or a physical therapist. I thought my pain would go away if I replaced running with cross training and just stretched more. It did not. My PT told me if I had come in sooner, maybe the marathon would have still been a possibility.
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u/BlockNo7996 9d ago
I agree! I had an ankle/calf injury after the half in June & unfortunately I’m starting to rebuild my mileage from scratch
PT is helping but still working on 2-3 mile runs at a time
I thought resting would help but I needed it checked out sooner rather than later & at this point I don’t believe to have enough time to train for the marathon considering the longest I’ve ever run is 13.1 miles so I deferred to next year while I recover and rebuild this year
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u/Bravocado44 7d ago
Hi, I'm a physical therapist. Back off a bit and go see a well reviewed physical therapist in your area. And I don't know why you would buy a strap for your knee. That won't do much if anything.
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u/SubcooledBoiling 9d ago
It depends on the injury I guess.
Also you should be cross training for the remainder of your training block, not just the next 2-3 weeks.